How to safely cross the Ocean of AWS APN Service Path

Building your relationship with Amazon Web Services (AWS) might seem as wide as an ocean to cross, but don’t worry. In this series of articles, I will guide you through the various stages of the service path, providing insights, tips, and strategies to help you become an AWS advanced partner.

This article is intended for companies that have already signed up for APN (AWS Partner Network) but have not yet reached the advanced level, as well as for companies that want to start a partnership with AWS from scratch.

My name is Amit Zarmon, I’m the  Head of Partnerships at Develeap. Nice to meet you!

I managed Develeap’s process of obtaining the AWS status of advanced partner – and I’ll guide you through the process so that you can achieve your AWS goals faster and more efficiently. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions, and follow Develeap’s Magazine to read our guide. 

Why should companies partner with AWS?

Partnership with AWS offers many advantages, making it an attractive prospect for businesses with diverse goals and KPIs:

AWS boasts a large and diverse customer base. With AWS, you can access new markets and opportunities around the world.

For instance, imagine you run a DevOps consultancy firm specializing in automation and CI/CD solutions. Partnering with AWS provides access to their extensive customer network, including large enterprises from various industries. This partnership allows you to demonstrate your DevOps expertise and automation solutions to a broader audience. You can showcase how your CI/CD pipeline implementations have improved application delivery for AWS customers, opening doors to new projects and opportunities and ultimately expanding your reach in the DevOps sector.

Credibility and Trust: AWS is synonymous with reliability and security. Partnering with AWS as a DevOps professional services provider aligns perfectly with your goals, enhancing your credibility.

By showcasing case studies of how your DevOps services seamlessly integrate with AWS, improving infrastructure management and security, you build trust and become the preferred choice for DevOps professionals seeking AWS-compatible solutions. This strengthens your credibility, attracts new clients, and reassures existing ones about their choice to partner with you.

Potential for Business Growth: Collaborating with AWS can significantly accelerate your business growth because it provides a platform for innovation, scalability, and increased revenue. Consider you’re a DevOps consultancy specializing in container orchestration and infrastructure as code (IaC). By partnering with AWS, you gain access to their powerful cloud infrastructure and DevOps tools. This means you can help clients optimize their AWS environments, automate infrastructure provisioning, and implement efficient container management solutions. As a result, your business attracts more clients looking to enhance their DevOps practices on AWS. This partnership showcases the potential for substantial growth in your DevOps consultancy by leveraging AWS’s resources and ecosystem.

In this partnership, success is a two-way street. While your organization gains access to AWS’s resources, AWS also benefits from your expertise and contributions to their ecosystem. This mutual collaboration fosters growth and innovation, making it a win-win situation.

To Become AWS partner, to learn more about the various paths AWS offers for establishing partnerships. 

AWS Partner Paths:

AWS Service Path: What you need to know and how it can benefit your business

Our guide explains the nuances of AWS Service Path – Tier Guide, offering a comprehensive understanding of its components, and functionalities, and how using its features can enhance and propel your business within the AWS ecosystem.

Plan, Execute, Succeed – navigating the APN and mastering the Service Path Scorecard

First and foremost, take a deep breath and grab a cup of coffee. 

Now, let’s start our research by reading the  AWS Service Path – Tier Guide. 

The APN is abundant with AWS resources, and based on my experience, it may take anywhere from a few weeks to a month to grasp how the APN system works.

1. Navigating the APN System:

In order to start your research on your APN account, under Resources > View All Resources, you will find all you need to know about the service path. You can start with the “Services Path – Tier Guide.” 

My recommendation: After reading the general guide, write down your questions about your specific challenge. Your PDR will definitely know how to answer your questions if you haven’t found the answers within the “Services Path – Tier Guide.” . 

2. Identify your point of contact, known as the Partner Development Representative (PDR)

The Partner Development Representative (PDR) plays a pivotal role in your partnership journey. They are your bridge to AWS, offering guidance, support, and insights. 

Yes, they may not be located in the same country as you, which is pretty cool, right? My wonderful PDR, Luis, and I manage the processes together, in constant communication from Israel to Spain.

When I began Develeap’s partnership journey with AWS, our PDR, Luis, proved to be an invaluable resource. Despite being located in different countries (Israel to Spain), Luis ensured 24/7 communication. His mentorship was instrumental to our success, and he demonstrated a genuine commitment to our company’s growth.

Your PDR can be your greatest ally on this path, so don’t hesitate to reach out and ask questions.

3. Create a plan to achieve your next level of the Service Path

Creating a well-structured plan is crucial for success on the APN Services Path. It serves as the foundation upon which you build your partnership journey with AWS. A carefully thought-out plan not only guides your actions but also provides clarity and direction, helping you make informed decisions and stay on track throughout the partnership.

While creating a plan, consider the following elements:

Set Clear Goals: Define your partnership goals, whether achieving advanced status, expanding your AWS-related offerings, or penetrating new markets.

• For example: Our primary goal is to achieve advanced partner status within the next 12 months. This will be a significant milestone for us as it opens up a wider range of AWS resources and benefits.

Establish Milestones: Break your journey into achievable milestones. This provides a roadmap to track your progress.

• For example: To reach our advanced partner status goal, we’ve set up several milestones. These include completing AWS certifications, obtaining positive customer references, and meeting revenue targets at specific intervals.

Create Timelines: Develop a timeline that outlines when each milestone should be reached. This ensures accountability and keeps your team on track.

• For example: Our timeline for achieving advanced partner status involves completing certifications within the first six months, securing customer references in the next three months, and meeting revenue targets by the end of the year.

Alignment with AWS: Ensure that your plan aligns with AWS’s expectations and requirements. This alignment is key to a successful partnership.

Our plan is intricately aligned with AWS’s core principles, encompassing their focus on innovation, scalability, and customer-centric solutions. By adopting AWS’s best practices, we ensure that our services not only meet their compatibility and integration standards but also embody the same commitment to excellence. This alignment solidifies our partnership by showcasing a shared dedication to delivering cutting-edge solutions to our customers.

After gaining a solid understanding of what is included in order to succeed on the service path and asking my PDR all of my questions, I proceeded to create a set of missions for our exceptional team to accomplish. We embarked on this journey with enthusiasm and dedication, knowing that every day would bring new discoveries and challenges.

Execute the plan – make things happen

With a solid plan in place, it’s time to execute it effectively. This phase is where teamwork and adaptability truly shine.

Each team member took ownership of their respective roles and responsibilities, working diligently to meet deadlines and exceed expectations. We leveraged our collective knowledge and skills, constantly sharing insights and pushing each other to excel.

Based on my experience, here are some tips for executing the plan with your teams: 

• Prioritization: Help your team prioritize their tasks effectively. Ensure they understand which tasks are critical and which can be deferred. Setting clear priorities can prevent burnout and enhance productivity.
• Task Delegation: Delegate tasks wisely, taking into account each team member’s strengths and expertise. Distribute tasks based on their skills, interests, and availability. This ensures that everyone contributes effectively to the additional workload.
• Goal Setting: Set clear and achievable goals for the team. Make sure these goals align with the team’s capacity. Clearly define what success looks like for each task.

• Training and Development: Offer opportunities for skill development and training. Invest in your team’s professional growth so they can handle additional responsibilities more efficiently.
• Feedback and Improvement: Regularly review the additional tasks and gather feedback from the team. Continuously use their input to improve processes and make adjustments as needed.
• Flexibility: Be flexible with work schedules and deadlines when possible. Acknowledge that team members might need to adapt their regular work hours to accommodate extra tasks.

Internal communication was the key to our success 

Regular meetings, both formal and informal, allowed us to track progress, address challenges, and celebrate milestones together.

Celebrate your team’s success at every milestone

During the process of achieving our goals on the Service Path, Develeap was honored with the prestigious “Differentiate Partner” status within the AWS Partner Network (APN). This distinguished recognition indicates that a company has exceeded the usual standards in its collaboration with AWS, showcasing exceptional expertise, dedication, and success in providing AWS services and solutions. In our case, this milestone was marked by our achievement of the Service Delivery recognition (AWS Lambda, AWS EKS), which earned us the Differentiate Partner status along with a notable badge of honor. We celebrated our team’s great effort and success by recognizing their contribution via our company’s public channels as well as internally.

Motivation and Recognition: Recognize and appreciate your team’s efforts. Positive reinforcement can go a long way in boosting morale and encouraging team members to consistently give their best.

Throughout our journey, we didn’t shy away from setbacks. Instead, we embraced them as valuable opportunities for learning and improvement. This resilient mindset allowed us to foster a cohesive, high-performing team that thrived on the Service Path. Together, we not only achieved the missions we initially set out to accomplish but also surpassed our own expectations.

Our collective efforts have positioned us for future success and have laid the foundation for even greater accomplishments on the service path.

As a result of our collaborative efforts, we have not only reached the distinguished status of an advanced Amazon Web Services service provider but have also laid the foundation for even greater achievements in the future. Our success is attributed to the motivation and recognition of our dedicated team members, which reinforces the importance of creating a positive work environment. It was only through unwavering teamwork and a shared spirit of determination that we were able to deliver not one but two remarkable services in less than 100 working days, demonstrating the potential that AWS offers to its partners. 

Stay tuned for our next article, in which we will dive deep into the Service Path: Partner Scorecard and explore each aspect in detail.